Since I don't plan on posting until after the new year, I wanted to post some of my favorite recipes, resources and photos from St. Basil's Days of old.
For those of you not familiar with St. Basil's Day, it is celebrated on January 1 in honor of St. Basil of Caesarea. A gold coin is hidden inside a loaf of bread, or cake, in remembrance of a miracle that took place where St. Basil baked gold into bread loaves. Tradition also tell us that St. Basil was known for hiding gold coins in loaves of bread in order to help the poor without offending their pride.
So every year on New Year's Day we cut a Vasilopita and whoever finds the coin in their slice of the cake receives a special blessing for the year.
These photos are from last year.
DH cutting the Vasilopita; the first piece for Christ; second for the Mother of God; third for St. Basil and fourth for St. Nektarios (our family saint); then DH, myself and each member of the family beginning with the with the eldest child.
Here is the lucky piece!
Guess who got it? Ace! Later on that night, Lucky got his first coin at a friend's house! We had a house full of blessings this year! :)
Here is the recipe I use for my Vasilopites. It is from my sister's mother-in-law Maria and I think it's the best one I've ever tasted! It's more of a cake than a bread but that is how I prefer it.
Log on to this website--The Vasilopita Coin--for a more in depth explanation of the Vasilopita tradition!
Xronia Polla!
For those of you not familiar with St. Basil's Day, it is celebrated on January 1 in honor of St. Basil of Caesarea. A gold coin is hidden inside a loaf of bread, or cake, in remembrance of a miracle that took place where St. Basil baked gold into bread loaves. Tradition also tell us that St. Basil was known for hiding gold coins in loaves of bread in order to help the poor without offending their pride.
So every year on New Year's Day we cut a Vasilopita and whoever finds the coin in their slice of the cake receives a special blessing for the year.
These photos are from last year.
DH cutting the Vasilopita; the first piece for Christ; second for the Mother of God; third for St. Basil and fourth for St. Nektarios (our family saint); then DH, myself and each member of the family beginning with the with the eldest child.
Here is the lucky piece!
Guess who got it? Ace! Later on that night, Lucky got his first coin at a friend's house! We had a house full of blessings this year! :)
Here is the recipe I use for my Vasilopites. It is from my sister's mother-in-law Maria and I think it's the best one I've ever tasted! It's more of a cake than a bread but that is how I prefer it.
Vasilopita Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups (1 lb.) unsalted butter
1 cup vegetable oil
5 cups sugar
12 eggs, separated
4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar, on the side
6 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups crushed, toasted almonds
Directions:
- Cream butter, oil, and 5 cups sugar sugar for 10 minutes. Add yolks and flavorings, beat until fluffy.
- Alternate adding all dry ingredients (except salt) and yogurt.
- In separate bowl, beat whites and salt ntil foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until stiff meringue forms. Fold into 1st mixture so it stays fluffy.
- Pour into greased pan 16 x 11 pan or 14" round. Add sliced almonds on top. Bake @ 325 degrees for 15 minutes, then add coin. Continue baking for additional 30 minutes.
Also, be sure to check out this article from Highlights about the Tradition of the Vasilopita!
Log on to this website--The Vasilopita Coin--for a more in depth explanation of the Vasilopita tradition!
Xronia Polla!
1 comments:
Your vasilopita looks yummy! I've always wanted to try making one. In the Greek town where my family is from (a section of Thrace that was under Turkish rule until WWI and is now a part of Bulgaria), we always use a baklava to hide the coin in on New Year's instead of the vasilopita.
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